The Bodyguard
by RedBeetle
Summary: An Australian travels to Japan to participate in the amazing new game Sword Art Online. What he does find, is a game unlike any other. Friends are made, (virtual) blood is spilt, and one particular player will come to know this young man more than anyone else. (Rated M for later content!)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey guys! ANOTHER series I've started, and hoping that this one is gonna turn out good. Once again, I'm gonna need a beta for this one. It's gonna be a bit longer than the original SAO season, as it will try to build up the two main characters relationship. Who are the main characters? Well, read on to find out! (Or, if you were a normal person, you would've just read the description.)

I DO NOT OWN STARSET'S MUSIC, SAO OR EVEN THIS STORY. Jks about the last one though. But if I really did own SAO, do you think I'd be here?

Anyway, some swearing in this one, watch out if that kind of stuff offends you. Welcome to chapter one of:

* * *

 **The Bodyguard**

* * *

The year was 2022, the year the first commercially available VRMMORPG, _Sword Art Online_ , was released. Gamers all around the world looked forward to the worldwide release of such a game. However, the game, for the moment, was limited to Japan. This made many gamers around the world slightly upset, but they knew that eventually, _SAO_ would get a worldwide release.

One group of gamers, however, couldn't wait for the grand release. A group of gamers in Australia decided to pool their money and resources, as it were, to try and get at least one of them to play the game, over in Japan, for a week. They knew the game came with an English setting, but that it was unfinished, so that had to choose between the two who could speak Japanese. The two drew straws, and the one who pulled the longest, would go to Japan. Both straws were pulled out, and the guy who won was named Jake Richardson, aged 15.

After farewelling his group of friends, he got on the plane for Japan. He had rented out a house in downtown Tokyo, close to where the game stores were selling both the Nerve Gear, and _SAO_. He moved in, feeling rather alone in the world. He had never left Australia, and now here he was, in the middle of the most technologically advanced nation on the planet. This is where our story begins, the night before the release and launch of _SAO_.

* * *

I was scared. I had never been this far away from home before. Even though I had been on school camps, the furthest I had been was Canberra, and that wasn't too far in comparison to where I was now. Japan.

 _It's so much cooler than I imagined!_

When I had learnt Japanese in school, I was one of few that actually paid attention. Therefore, I took Japanese with me as a subject all the way through Year 1, to Year 9, where I was now. I could speak fluently, and could understand the rapid-fire Japanese most natives spoke, which was much better than my classmates.

As I sat on my bed watching the sun set, the song I was listening to changed, and a new song started to play.

 _Mayday! Mayday! This ship is slowly sinking!_

 _They think I'm crazy, but they don't know the feeling._

I breathed in. I breathed out. _Tomorrow. That's when the game is released._

I eventually feel to sleep, as the vocals of Dustin Bates, accompanied by the backing of Brock Richards and Ron DeChant finished their incredible song. I was ready for whatever the game was going to through at me.

Or so I thought.

* * *

I placed the Nerve Gear on my head, waiting for the clock to tick over, and for _SAO_ to come online.

 _Here we go. No turning back now._

Eventually, the Nerve Gear asked me to touch certain parts of my body. And so I did, and eventually, the Nerve Gear fell quite, and then quietly told me that _SAO_ was ready to play. My heart stopped for a small second, and I creamed as loud as I could

"LINK START!" The Nerve Gear began flashing colours past me, and I was launched into the world of _Sword Art Online_. I was tense with excitement as I waited.

I was transported to an empty room, and as I looked around, and I spotted a console. I walked up to it, and saw a flashing "Welcome" button. I pressed the button, and a female voice began to speak.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online, player! Please choose your username."

A keyboard appeared in front of me, and I thought for a while. My name was Jake Richardson. I wasn't going to use that. I thought back to my other usernames I had used throughout my history of gaming.

 _XxJESTERxX? Nah, too simple._

 _Jakos? Maybe, but I think it's probably taken, and I'm not going to have numbers in my name._

 _Red_Beetle? Who would think of a username like that?_

 _Lord Lost? Well, that makes me look like a noob, so no._

 _Crassus? Hmm, sounds Roman. Alright, here we go._

I entered _Crassus_ into the text box that was above the keyboard, and pressed ENTER. The female voice asked me to confirm my choice, and I pressed YES. The keyboard and text box disappeared. The female voice asked me to start to design my avatar. I was disappointed with that all that could really be changed was face, height and weight. I could have gender swapped, but that just wasn't right. Guys pretending to be girls were creeps, especially in a game like this. I fiddled around with my hair a bit, and changed my height to make my 6'5" height in real life, come down to just 5'11". After doing this, I pressed accept, and accept again.

The game then dumped me into a large city, where I was surrounded by other players. _Thousands_ of other players. I cheered in delight, surrounded by the other who were all doing the same. I sprinted towards the marketplace, and started to look around at all of the wares the NPC's were selling. Swords, armour, and many other items. I was looking around, and I spotted the exit to the city only a few hundred metres away.

I started to run towards it, but then a black haired player ran out in front of me. I was running too fast, and I collided head on with the player. As SAO's collision system was as realistic as possible, we both went sprawling. "Hey, watch where you're going dumbass!" I yelled at the other player. The other player simply shook his head, and ran off. I got off the ground, and continued to the gate.

As the third wolf fell to my blade, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that all of the tutorials I had read online had paid off. I had destroyed three groups of wolves, and was very close to levelling up to Level 2. I wanted to build a speedy, hard-hitting character, with an emphasis on evasion and hiding skills, with listening and sword skills thrown in. I knew, from some online beta guides, that there was a level 2 minor dungeon on the first floor, that contained a full set of ninja gear in a once off. This would boost my One Handed Sword, Evasion, Hiding and Listening skills by 100, and boosting my Strength, Vitality, Dexterity and Agility stats by 60. It was a _very_ potent armour piece, and I hoped that I was the only one who was going for it, even though I knew this was impossible.

I saw a couple of players pass me. As I looked closer, I saw it was the black-haired player from before, with another red-haired player. I could hear what they were saying, or have a close look at what they were doing, but whatever it was, I couldn't care less. They were probably just trying to get some early levelling in.

I continued to wander through the plains outside the starting city, admiring the views. I was walking for about an hour, before I spotted a level two monster. I ran towards it, and drew my sword. As I approached it, I stared on in shock as I was surrounded by six level one wolves, along with the level two wolf. As I desperately tried to escape form the ring, another player leapt off of a nearby rock, and landed next to me. I nodded a silent thanks, and we turned back-to-back and prepared to face off against the wolves.

The level two, and two level one wolves attacked me, while the four remaining level one wolves attacked my mysterious new friend. I struck at the level two first, and took away 25% of its health. As it retreated, I struck the level one's, destroying them in a few hits. The level two leapt past me, and tried to strike my new friend in the back. As he leapt past, I sliced him along the middle, effectively cutting him in half.

As I turned to help my companion, I watched as they sliced the last wolf, and it disintegrated into thousands of polygons. As the combat had ended, I received my XP and Cor, and discovered that I had levelled up to level 2. I cheered, and transferred the loot I had earned into my inventory. I opened up the level up menu, and put my points into agility, so that I could run faster.

I turned to say thank you, but then I saw who I was facing.

A girl, of all things. _Good God, she's pretty…_ I tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey."

She smiled at me, and held out her hand for me to shake. I took it, and shook back. "So, thanks for saving me back there." She smiled again, and laughed softly. "Hey, well maybe you shouldn't have charged off into a high level area." I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, blushing as she laughed. _Damn emotion compensator…_

"Name's Lisbeth." I nodded.

"Crassus." She cocked her head in curiosity.

"That's an interesting name. Where'd you get it?" I softly laughed.

"I don't often play MMORPGs, I usually stick to RTS and Strategy games. Hence the name. Crassus was a Roman General, who wasn't very good at his job. Kinda reflects my RTS – and most games, actually – play record as well." Lisbeth laughed softly once more, and I smiled.

She pointed back to the town. "Come on, let's head back. Getting dark anyway, and I want to be in a safe area when I log off." I smiled, and indicated for her to lead the way.

As we were walking towards the town, I saw some more players. Then I saw something interesting.

They disappeared.

Lisbeth obviously saw it too. "No-ones meant to have teleportation crystals at this point." I was about to answer, then I felt myself get teleported, and watched as Lisbeth was teleported as well.

* * *

 _What the fuck is going on?_

I materialised in the main square outside of the Black Palace, with Lisbeth standing beside me. Lots of players were asking similar questions around the square.

"What is going on?"

"Why are we here?"

"Why can't I log off?" This brought gasped, and hundreds of player simultaneously brought up their menus, and I did the same, thinking that it just was some asshole playing a prank, and tricking everyone into looking at their menus. However, I was mistaken.

 _Wait, what the fuck? Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit please nononono!_

I desperately tried to find the log out button, but it wasn't there. Lisbeth was doing the same thing. "What is going on?" she muttered under her breath. I grabbed her arm, and made her look up at the sky.

While we had been busy with our menus, the sky had been covered with hexagons, with the words "SERVER ANNOUNCMENT" printed on them. Blood, or what looked like blood, was dripping out of the cracks around the most centre hexagons. Eventually, the blood formed a solid figure that looked an awful lot like the game master.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world." I frowned. _His_ world? That would make him…

"That's Akihiko Kayaba…" Lisbeth turned to me with a blanched expression.

"No way. _That's_ the creator of SAO and the Nerve Gear?" I nodded sadly.

"He's trapped us here." Lisbeth turned to look back at Kayaba, not believing what I was saying.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Kayaba announced dramatically. The players around me cried out with anger and disbelief.

"That's bullshit, man!"

"Yeah, seriously, cut the crap!"

"He's not serious right? I've got a _life_ in the real world." I shook my head at the naivety of the other players. They couldn't seriously be thinking that this was a hoax.

Kayaba began to speak again. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus – the log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be." This brought more cries of disbelief and anger, with some players looking around, trying to figure out if this was a dream or not. Lisbeth turned to me. "He can't do this, right?" I didn't want to answer, as the truth would destroy her, while a lie would crush her soul when she found out the truth.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

"What the fuck man! Is this some kind of twisted joke?"

"This really is bullshit! I'm leaving!"

"Yeah man, fuck this!"

"Crassus… is he serious?" I turned to Lisbeth, to see that her eyes were filled with tears. I pulled her into a hug. "Hey, don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine." She looked up at me, and slowly nodded.

Kayaba was continuing. "Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."

 _Holy shit…_

Lisbeth cried out in shock, and was joined by the thousands gathered in the square. Many people simply fell to their knees, while others just collapsed and fainted.

Kayaba opened up screens, and `they were showing current media coverage of the event. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following:

There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game.

If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever.

And the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain.

There is only one way for a player to escape now - you must clear the game.

Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad.

If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor.

Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

 _You sick bastard…_

"Clear the game?"

"How the hell do we do that? Not even the Beta Testers made it that high!"

Kayaba gave us one last message before he left the area. "Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look."

I opened mine up, as did Lisbeth.

Inside was a mirror. I equipped it, and shown in the mirror reflection, was me.

The real me.

I dropped the mirror, and could see that everyone else was doing the same thing.

I turned to look at Lisbeth, and found instead a young girl about my age, but about three quarters my height, kneeling on the ground. I, now back to my original height, crouched down next to Lisbeth. She turned to look at me, and almost jumped back in fright. She whispered, "Crassus? … Is that you?" I nodded softly. "Come on. Let's get out of here." She grabbed my hand, and we ran for the main gates of the Starting City. We could already hear the cries of loss and pain from the players behind us, and so we just ran faster.

I didn't want to know why so many were screaming in loss.

* * *

We arrived outside of the dungeon that I had wanted to go. Lisbeth was panting, and I asked her to wait outside. She protested, but I pointed out a very, very important fact.

"If you hadn't helped me with those wolves, I'd be dead. Here and in the real world. I owe you my life, and so I will protect yours. Please stay here." She hesitated, then nodded sadly. I entered the dungeon. I stopped for a moment when I spotted that the opening floor was empty. I rushed through the rooms, only to find three level one players trying desperately to escape the ten level two wolves trying to kill them. I screamed at them to come to where I was so that I could help them. They stopped to look at me, but the wolves caught up.

I looked away, as the screams of the players faded away into echoes. I rushed forward cutting down the wounded wolves easily. When I accessed the dead player's inventories, I found a pretty good mace and shield. _Lisbeth would like this._ I also gained some blacksmithing tools. I pushed ahead, and eventually, after a few more rooms filled with level two monsters, reached the boss. The name above his head read _The Guardian of the Underworld_. I rushed forward, using my new speed to outrun his attacks, and land a few of my own.

After about half an hour of this toing and froing between me and the boss, and lots of dodging by me, the boss exploded into a thousand little polygons. A large _Congratulations!_ Appeared above the dead boss, and a screen opened up in front of me. It detailed that I had gained three items, along with a substantial amount of Col and XP.

The first item, the last hit bonus, was a katana. The katana's description mentioned that it was adaptable, whatever the hell that meant.

The second item was the ninja suit and mask. All of the stat and skill boosts were slightly increased, a pleasant surprise for me.

Finally, the last item was a book. A skill book in fact, one on blacksmithing, and it would permanently raise someone's blacksmithing related skills by 50 each.

The first two I equipped, and after sending a party invite and friend request to Lisbeth, I ran to the front of the dungeon, passing the room where the three players feel. I knelt for a bit, and thanked them for their sacrifice, and promised I would finished this game.

When I arrived at the entrance, Lisbeth jumped up and went for her sword, but when she saw it was me, she lowered it. "Here, try out these." She took the mace, shield and skill book I offered her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the book, and she eagerly accepted the trade. "Thank you so much! Hey, if you have the time, do think that we could go material hunting?" I nodded.

"Yeah, we need the experience anyway. How do you want to fight these monsters?" She thought for a second. "You have health potions don't you?" I shook my head. I had forgotten all about buying health potions in the rush to escape the city. She sighed. "Well, we should head back to town to get some. I was hoping that you'd have a few." She smiled slightly at me. "You know what, I'm glad I helped you with those wolves. Now I have a ninja bodyguard." I smiled sheepishly, even though she couldn't see my face. She laughed softly.

"Let's go, Mr Ninja." I smiled. I felt like this partnership was going to lead to great things.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** TWO chapters in a day?! WAAATTT? Anyway, reviews would be great. Oh, and anyone who provides a constructive review will be in the running to receive: their VERY OWN OC! :D (In this story, of course.) Whomever I pick will receive a PM from Yours Truly, and we will have a discussion about what personality thine OC will have, along with other features! Anyway, welcome, to the second chapter for today,

* * *

 **The Bodyguard: Chapter Two**

* * *

I screamed a war cry as I sliced the monster into two pieces. It had been a month since I had logged into SAO, and it had been a month since Lisbeth and I had teamed up to try and escape this hell-hole. We had been training for all of this week, desperately trying to adapt our unconventional matchup with the monsters.

As Lisbeth brained the last monster with her hammer, she squealed with delight. "Level 11! Finally!" I smiled. Lisbeth was having trouble levelling her character, as she wasn't getting enough monster kills. However, she didn't know what I had been getting up to.

A few weeks after acquiring my ninja armour, I had been approached by an info broker named Hevla, who offered to give me early access to loot location information, in return for information on players. I agreed, and have spent every night so far tailing players. So far, I had reported on three players; two tanks and a merchant. I had observed their skills, fighting styles, and, in the merchant's case, the way he interacted with players. Before this, I had often rescued players suck in higher level areas, and those who were being accosted by bandits. Already, people had begun to take advantage of weaker players. I had recently taken out a large ring, and handed them off to some NPC guards, as there was little in the way of guilds yet.

I had used my new armour, and observed them. However, the Adaptive Katana I had received was unable for me to use, so I had stuck with my simple one-handed sword. My Katana was currently in Lisbeth's inventory, because she was practising her Appraisal skill. I felt bad going behind her back, but we needed the money and loot.

Currently, Lisbeth killed the majority of the monsters, while I was running "interference" as it were. As in, I would try and separate the monsters from their packs, and eliminate them one by one, often starting with the larger ones. This was working well, as I was getting a lot of the experience, and allowing me to focus on levelling up, while Lisbeth could develop her fighting style.

As we sat down, with Lisbeth panting from her efforts to slay the monsters. As I went through my inventory, a message came up. I frowned, and opened it. It was from Hevla.

 _Hope I'm not interrupting your fun times with your girlfriend._

I frowned. Helva _knew_ that Lisbeth and I were just friends.

 _There's a meeting on in Tolbana today. It's about clearing this floor. Thought you'd like to attend._

I smiled. Looks like some people had decided to work together.

 _Another thing: You've become a bit of a legend. After that stunt you pulled in taking out that bandit ring, people have started to name you 'The Shadow of Aincrad'. Don't let it get to your head. Anyway, that's it for today. Check the bottom of the note for the coords to a new hunting ground._

I closed my screen, and watched as Lisbeth propped herself up on her legs. "Hey, there's a meeting on today. It's about clearing this floor. If you're interested…" She shook her head in a negative.

"Nah, you go along. I'll just keep levelling until you come back. I'll be level 12 before you know it!" I smiled at her optimism, and set off to walk back into town.

* * *

It took me about an hour to get back into Tolbana, but before I entered, I spotted the sheer amount of players in the town. Getting in unnoticed from the ground was gonna be impossible. The rooftops would have to do. I leaped onto the nearest roof, and began to make my way towards the amphitheatre where the meeting was taking place. I sat down and waited, and watched as about fifty players slowly entered the arena. I saw a couple of people that really stood out:

A guy with blue hair, along with a shield.

A HUGE black guy, maybe around my height with a rather large axe to go with it.

I also saw two players separated from the main group. One with black hair, and a sword over his shoulder, and the other with a hood on. With my high detection skill, I could see that the second player was a girl.

Blue hair mounted the stage, and began to speak. "Ok people. Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started!"

The general chatter from around the stage quietened down, and blue hair continued. "So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming, good to see you. My name is Diabel, and in this game, the job I roled is Knight!" This last statement brought laughter from the gathered players, and I groaned slightly from my perch up in the build overlooking the stage.

"Dude, there's no job system in this game!" Blue hair looked slightly annoyed, but he continued anyway.

"You guys wanna hear this, or not?" The quietened the doubters down, and he continued. "Right, anyway. Here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." This made gasps come from the assembled players. I silently congratulated Diabel on his discovery.

"First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two. The next step is, we have to tell _everyone_ waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it _is_ possible to beat this game! Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree, or not?" People began to talk nervously among themselves, and I moved closer towards the stage, to get a better view. Slowly, sounds of agreement came from the assembled players, and everyone began to clap, with a few even whistling.

"Okay! Glad to hear that you're all with me on this! Now, let's figure out how we're gonna beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six." This got me worried, but I made no move from my roof top. I watched as the other players naturally gravitated towards their friends, and I felt a small twinge of sadness. The only reason that I had Lisbeth as a friend was that she had decided to stick around with me. I didn't really like making new friends, especially after the way tha-

I shook my head, frustrated with myself from bringing up bad memories. _It's all over, I'm fine, I'm good, I did the right thing._ But, those words sounded hollow, even in my head.

"Alright!" Diabel was starting to talk again, and I cleared my head, wondering how much I had missed. "Looks like everyone's teamed up! Now then,-"

"Hold up a second!" A new voice shouted, and I looked to see a guy with short, spiky orange hair standing on top of the stairs leading down to the stage. He leaped down the steps, and landed on the stage.

"My name's Kibaou. Got that?" I sighed softly. _Oh boy…_ "Before we take on the boss, I have something to get off my chest. We all know about the 2000 people who've died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologise to them right now!" Confused gasps and mutterings came from around the theatre. Diabel began to speak. "Kibaou, I think I know who you are referring to. You mean the ones who are ex-beta testers, right?" Kibaou turned to Diabel.

"'Course I mean them! The day this stupid-ass game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right!? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we were nothing. Hell, I bet there are some of them here! Come on out, beta testers! We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?!" The crowd remained silent throughout this entire rant. I merely rolled my eyes. _Please. The beta's gave us a guide book, AND they had guides up on the internet about how to get started._

The giant African-American guy stepped forward. "Can I say something?" I turned to look at him. He was approaching the stage, and addressing Kibaou directly. "Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them, and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?" Kibaou became a little bit angrier at having to explain his rant.

"No, you didn't."

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers." Kibaou and the rest of the crowd gasped in surprise. I felt like it was my time to speak up. "You know what else?" All of the players looked up towards my hiding spot, and I leapt down onto the stage. I rose to my full height, just shy of Agil. Even so, many of the players began to whisper excitedly.

"That's the Shadow!"

"He saved my party last week from some dire wolves!"

"I heard he can walk through walls!"

"Listen up!" My yell echoed throughout the square.

"Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died." The majority of the players were nodding along, and Agil spoke up.

"I agree. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I want to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to find out how we're gonna beat the boss." The players nodded, and Kibaou angrily crashed into a seat. I took a seat next to Agil. I offered my hand to shake, and he took it.

"Okay, can we get back to the meeting now?" Everyone started to focus their attention on Diabel. He pulled out a guide book, and tapped it lightly. "For info on the boss, it's all in here - the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about." When Diabel mentioned this, people gasped. A coupled looked at Kibaou, and he sunck further into his seat. "According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions - the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack, too." People began to mutter nervously at this.

"That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP; and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections? Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people." Agil tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, Shadow right?" I nodded. "Good to see ya. You saved a couple of my frineds a few weeks back." I sighed sadly. "Too bad I couldn't save the rest of the party." Agil shook his head. "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault. Anyway, are you already in a party? Cause I can't invite you." I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm already in a party. Back when the game started, a player saved my life. I've been helping them level up ever since." Agil smiled. "I also know," he said, smiling conspiratorially, "that you've been handing off higher level gear to lower level players." I awkwardly nodded, while he laughed and patted me on the back. "Well, tomorrow we'll see just how good you are, eh?" I nodded once more, and we went our separate ways: him to the centre of town, and me to the hut where me and Lisbeth were living in.

* * *

"Hey, I'm back."

Lisbeth waved a greeting from the makeshift forge she had set up. Most of the lower level gear I had was given to her, so that she could break it down and reuse the materials to create better gear. This gear was then sold at low prices to lower level players, and the money used to buy higher level ores and components.

"How was town? Meet anyone new?" I shuffled on the spot nervously. Lisbeth had been trying desperately to get me to meet some new people, but I just wasn't up to it. I tried to change the topic. "So, um… what's the date today again?" I roughly knew, but I wasn't keeping track. Lisbeth narrowed her eyes lightly, then checked. "Oh, it's the 2nd of December." I squeaked slightly. Lisbeth raised an eyebrow. "Was that a squeak I just heard?" I shook my head, before letting out a large breath. "Well, it's just that, today is… a bit hard for me…" Lisbeth raised her second eyebrow. "What is it? Is it an anniversary of some… hey, Crassus? You okay…?" I just slowly sank to the floor, and began to cry. Lisbeth rushed to my side.

"Hey, I'm sorry! I didn't know!" I just kept crying, and she just pulled my upright, and moved me towards the couch we had. She placed me down, and just sat there, looked ashamed as I wept.

After about ten minutes, I slowly stopped, and just started to talk.

"On this day, four years ago, I… I killed my step-father." Lisbeth jumped back in fright, and I continued.

"My step-father wasn't a nice guy. He used to beat my mother, and I only found out later that it was because she was… not faithful… and, well… that's how I was born. Her boss… and her…" Lisbeth was still looking at me in shock, and I choked down tears.

"Well… w-when I was six… I told my step-dad to stop hitting my mom… a-a-and he said… 'W-well if I stop hit-t-hitting her, t-then who d-d-d-do I hit-t?' Then… well… he started to beat me…" The tears flowed, not just on my face.

"Finally, things came to a head… when mum reported him to the Police… is retaliation… he… he killed her… in front of me! Then… h-h-h-he knocked me out… grabbed me… took me to a cliff near our house… then told me to… j-j-jump… I said n-n-no, so… he… went to p-p-push me… and he missed." Lisbeth was just sitting there, silent, with tears running down her face.

"I… I PUSHED HIM! I PUSHED HIM OFF THAT CLIFF!" I grabbed a vase that was sitting on the side table, and flung it at the wall, where it shattered into a thousand tiny polygons. I stormed out of the house, and ran.

* * *

I arrived back at the starting town at 11 pm. I ran through town. I reached to railing. Thirty people, after hearing Kayaba, had flung themselves off here.

I would make it 31.

This was it. I had no one left. No one cared. No one knew. No one wanted me.

I was already dead.

A soft wind tugged at my sleeves, as if encouraging me to jump.

I was already dead.

I heard people start to yell and scream when they saw me on the edge. Some of those people's voices I recognised.

I was already dead.

"Shadow! Wait!"

"Shadow! It's not worth it, man!"

"Shadow, we need you!"

I.

Something was moving in peripherals.

Was.

It was getting closer.

Already.

I could hear it panting.

Dead.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hey guys! Just a short chapter here, but one question I want to ask: why was there no instruments in SAO? Well, I've put them in this story. Everything from electric guitars down to bongos, everything's here. I know that this WOULD be out of setting for a medieval world, but it's a virtual world. Surely they'd have access to a bunch of songs cause the NerveGear was plugged into their PC's? Anyway, yeah, they're here, and as such, I can put in some of my favourite songs into this story! Also, I've given the players the ability to play music using an ability, and that this music only they can hear. Also, now NPC bands now are in the game, and now they can play whatever song you request. So, here we go.

* * *

 **The Bodyguard: Chapter 3**

* * *

I groaned, and tried to sit upright.

 _Wait, WHAT!_

It all came rushing back.

The edge.

The trip.

Telling Lisbeth.

The Memories.

Already Dead.

I looked around the unfamiliar room. Where…

I stood up, and saw that my face coverings hadn't been removed. Nothing had.

Everything was still there.

I walked around. Nothing was familiar. I tried the door. It opened easy enough.

I stepped out into a white room. Sitting in the centre, on a featureless white chair, was a man.

Even without a name tag, I still spotted the man who had created the game. You couldn't browse a gaming site without his face appearing.

"Hello Jake. Take a seat."

A chair appeared. I sat down, and faced Kayaba. I was shaking with fear.

"Jake, you are not dead. However, I wanted to talk to you. You, even this early in the game, have become a legend. All you have done, in the one month this game has be operational, has helped people. Lisbeth, especially. I have a feeling that _she_ would have been the one to commit suicide if you hadn't helped her out of the Town Of Beginnings."

"Why?" Kayaba looked confused.

"Why what?"

"Why am I not dead?" Kayaba looked seriously at me.

"I **cannot** allow you to die. You remind me of my brother. He was treated the same way by our father. I… did nothing, thinking that it was for a good reason. Eventually, he had enough. But unlike you, he did not kill Father, he simply hung himself." Kayaba's face was blank, showing no emotion. "I should have done something. However, I CAN do something now. You, Jake. If you died, guess what would happen? _Hundreds_ would follow. Maybe even a thousand people. _You_ are their hope. I will not allow you to die, just so that this game may end prematurely. And, before you ask, I have sent out a server-wide announcement saying that you are not dead."

"I WANT to die! I can't move on! The deaths… their BURNED into my mind!"

Kayaba sighed. "You'll HAVE to deal with it. For now, I will teleport you to your house. The boss fight is in an hour. Take care. You'll meet me again."

"Wait-"

* * *

I appeared in the house. I was on the couch, and I could hear someone crying off in the distance, along with people talking. I activated my stealth skill, and crept out to look. To my horror, there was over three dozen people on a hill, with many more surrounding it. On top of the hill, kneeling next to a stone, was Lisbeth. The crying I could hear came from different parts of the crowd. I sighed in frustration.

They'd erected me a grave. Apparently, Kayaba's message hadn't convinced anyone. I snuck into the centre of the circle (How, I don't know. Apparently no-one's detection skills were high enough to sense me, or they were simply ignoring me.) I arrived at my grave, and tapped Lisbeth on the shoulder. She slowly turned around, and upon seeing me, pretty much screamed. The hill fell silent, and all of the gathered people looked at me.

"Listen up! I was dead, but Kayaba brought me back. I don't want anyone trying to follow me. Kayaba won't save you. How many people here are from the clearing group?" A few people put their hands up. "Right, and how many people are combat orientated, level 12 and above?" A few dozen put their hands up. "Right. Form into six man parties, and let's move out. We're already late. Let's show Kayaba that we don't need him to save us!" A roar of encouragement and defiance came from the crowd. The parties formed up, and I led them towards where the main force was meeting.

* * *

When we arrived in town, we got a lot of stares. I smiled. _40 organised people lead by The Shadow, who was proclaimed dead about 10 hours ago? What could be weirder?_ I felt like a complete badass when me and my little army arrived at the meeting place. Diabel approached me with a smile on his face, followed close behind by Agil. Diabel shook my hand vigorously, and Agil patted my back. "Good to see you alive, Shadow. And I see you've bought reinforcements. Even better." Agil smiled at me, and I nodded in return. Diabel had gathered about thirty people, most of which ran up and began to congratulate me on my survival.

My detection skill went wild, as it detected a disturbance. I turned just in time to stop a fist being swung at me. I grabbed said fist, as the seventy or so gathered players all drew their weapons. I motioned them to stand down. The person kept swinging, but their attacks were ineffectual. Instead of attacking back, I pulled the person into a hug.

"Lisbeth, calm down."

"You left me! You… You didn't even say goodbye! Then you jumped of the edge of the Town of Beginnings! AND I WATCHED! And when you got back, you just gathered up some players, and left again! You-"

A gasp went up from the gathered players, as Lisbeth stopped talking.

She had stopped talking because I had interrupted her.

Well, to be more accurate, my chest interrupted her, as I pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry… I… just didn't want to lose you too…" She sobbed softly, and I stroked the back of her head softly. "I've only known you for a short time, but you and me… I feel a bond I can't explain. I _need_ you. You keep me anchored. I realised this, after Kayaba talked to me." She was still sobbing.

"Don't go," she croaked, "I need you." I smiled, and whispered softly into her ear.

"I wouldn't leave you unless I had to. I need to do this. This boss needs to be beat. Then… no more leaving." She nodded, and I pulled her into one last hug. I stood.

"Let's move out!" The cheer from the surrounding players was deafening. I was proud to see the majority of the players were celebrating, with the ones that weren't smiling ridiculously. Diabel raised his sword, and all of the players travelled out of town. I said encouragement to every player that past me, until I was at the back of the column. I spotted the two lone players that had been at the back of the meeting. I walked next to them, and introduced myself.

"Your party seems under-strength. I can assist if you want." The kid looked up at me in awe, and the girl just seemed surprised. I sent them both a party invitation. "Here. Join up, and we can take down this boss together." The kid smiled, and the girl seemed to relax. I introduced myself, using my gamer name, and they did the same. They both seemed in awe of me.

We discussed topics like levelling, and how unfair the game really could be, along with the alarming amount of players turning to banditry to stay alive, to music they enjoyed. Kirito and Asuna began to open up to me, and eventually they began to talk amongst themselves. I smiled, knowing that these two probably would become good friends.

They talked non-stop for the hour it took to travel to the lair of the boss. Most of the monsters that stood in our way had been cut to pieces by the advance scouts, and the few that ambushed us were cut to pieces by the main party. When we finally arrived at the door to the boss room, Diabel stopped at the door, and turned to face us. He addressed us in much the same way he did in the first meeting.

When the doors opened, we were greeted by a horrific sight: a large, fat creature was sitting on a large throne. As the entire force stepped into the room, a name tag appeared above the head of the gigantic enemy:

Illfang the Kobold Lord.

As he stepped off his throne, three Ruin Kobold Sentinels appeared at his side.

I grinned under my mask. I felt good. We could clear this floor, get to the next one, and start to clear the game. I raised my sword in defiance.

"Let's exorcize these motherfuckers!"

The players roared, and Diabel directed squads to target certain enemies. Asuna, Kirito and myself targeted a Ruin Kobold Sentinel. The plan was for three squads to target the mobs protecting to boss, while the rest swapped in and out in attacking the boss.

The battle was going well for the first half hour. The boss' health had dropped to its last health bar, and the Ruin sentinels had mostly been wiped out, with one that I was still dealing with while Asuna and Kirito were healing up. The Sentinels were tough, but if you dodged their attacks, you would be able to get in a few good hits.

A roar from behind me signalled that Illfang had gotten down to his last vestiges of health. As he threw away has buckler and axe, Diabel yelled for everyone to get clear, and he began to run at the monster. My eyes windened.

 _The fool… he wants the last attack bonus!_

I rushed to Diabel to try and protect him from the sweeping attack the no dachi-

 _That's not a no dachi!_

"Diabel! GET CLEAR!"

I leaped in front of Diabel as the blade swung on its murderous arc. Diabel looked on in surprise as I jumped in front of him.

The blade fell.

I screamed as my left leg was severed. I smashed into the ground, and rolled for a few metres. Diabel was also hit after the blade passed clean through my leg. He flew back into a pillar, and groaned as he hit the ground.

Asuna ran up to mem in fright. "God, Crassus, what were you thinking?" I smiled weakly as she handed me a healing potion. I drank it greedily, but my health still kept failing. I saw that I had gained a bleeding effect on my status bar. I looked over to where Kirito and Diabel were. Kirito was trying to give Diabel a potion, but… I couldn't make it out clearly, but it looked like Kirito was being forced back by Diabel.

Then Diabel disappeared.

I roared in rage. Many of the other players joined me. As one ran past, he threw me a healing crystal, and I used it eagerly, and my leg was regenerated. I leapt up, and charged at the monster, Kirito and Asuna close behind me, with the main body of the group behind them. I yelled a war cry, and jumped straight at the boss, activating my most potent sword skill, ripping a deep cut across the boss' lower torso. Asuna used her rapier to bust through the boss's tough helmet and deliver a critical blow.

As Illfang stumbled around, Kirito delivered the final blow: a massive cut that ran from the boss' left leg to his right shoulder. The boss lost the last of its health, then it burst into a starburst of shards. The clearing party was silent for a moment, then everyone started to cheer.

I smiled, and Kirito fell to his knees.

Kibaou then shouted at everyone to shut up. I turned to see him near the spot where Diabel fell. He started to accuse Kirito of being a beta tester, and that he caused Diabel's death. I moved forward to defend Kirito, and I was joined by Agil and Asuna. We tried to explain that Kirito was innocent, before we heard maniacal laughter from behind us.

Kirito rose, and began a rant about how the beta testers were all weak, and how he was 'better than those noobs'. He said that he was dangerous, and that all of us should bow down to him. The players behind us began insult him, with the words 'cheater' and 'beta' mixing together to form 'beater'. I sighed in frustration at the scene, and left out of the main boss room doors.

If I thought the day was over, I was very, very wrong.

* * *

When I walked back through town, the boss fight results had apparently spread. I was bombarded with people thanking me, and a bunch of people showed me a tattoo they had given themselves: my face on their chests. It was kind of uncomfortable when the girls in the group took off their clothes to show me, but I thanked them anyway and told them that I didn't deserve any reward.

I walked through the fields, and saw hundreds of players training and trying to level up so that they could survive the next few floors. A few of them raised a hand in greeting when they saw me, and I returned the gesture.

When I finally reached Lisbeth's blacksmith shop, I steeled myself. I was hoping that she would agree to my plan.

"Hey! Lisbeth!" I called out into the shop.

And waited.

A few minutes later, she emerged.

She stopped at the porch, and I walked up towards the house.

"Stop."

I stopped, and tilted my head in confusion. I could see that it looked like she was crying. I almost took another step, then she started to talk again.

"You don't care, do you?"

I recoiled in surprise as Lisbeth stepped towards me, her brown hair swaying in the wind.

"You don't care that every time you leave, I worry, do you? I found out about the 'trips' you've been doing for Helva. She came round and told me. I also know that you jumped off that cliff. With no thoughts for me. You know what, you probably don't care. Leave. NOW!"

I tried to take a few steps forward. She chucked her mace at me, which I dodged, and she ran back inside. I ran to the door, tears running down my face. The door wouldn't open. I tried again.

 _Locked._

Scrambling to check my friends list, I discovered that she had unfriended me. Then, she probably restricted my access to the shop. I looked to my right, and spotted a sack, labelled _Crassus' Stuff_. I opened it. Everything of mine was in there, along with a note, with more or less the same words on it.

I grabbed the sack, and tried one last time to get into the house. _Locked_.

I cried softly as I walked away.


End file.
